Afghan elders discuss US pact, peace talks with Taliban

Afghan tribal elders met on the second day of a conference to discuss a long-term pact with the United States and possible resumption of talks with the Taliban, which took responsibility for a rocket attack on the capital on Thursday, dpa reported.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for two rockets that exploded in Kabul, injuring a civilian. One of the rockets landed in the same area where the conference was taking place. Police arrested two people involved in the attack.

More than 2,000 tribal elders started deliberations on a draft copy of a the strategic partnership agreement with the United States, said Safia Seddiqi, spokeswoman for the conference, which is know as a loya jirga.

Seddiqi said the Afghan-US pact will last for 10 years after foreign forces leave the country in 2014.

"Based on the Afghan documents here, it is until 2024," she said.

"The jirga delegates will keep national interest as a top priority when deciding on the agreement."

One sticking point in the pact was the question of how much the United States should pay Afghanistan for allowing the US military to keep bases in the country, one delegate said, declining to give his full name.

He also said aid money, military operations, training and mentoring of the Afghan forces, and protecting territorial integrity were some of the other issues being discussed.

Sardar Saeedi, a tribal elder participating in the meeting, said most of the delegates are in favour of the partnership.

"Many believe that we must agree on the strategic partnership because Afghanistan is in need of such an assistance from the United States and the international community," said Saeedi.

President Hamid Karzai said in his opening remarks on Wednesday that the partnership would benefit Afghanistan. He wants any pact to include a clause that US and NATO forces would stop military operations and hand over detention centres to Afghan authorities.

The four-day council is also slated to discuss the possibility of resuming peace talks with the Taliban, which were halted after a suicide attack in September that killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, who headed a council tasked with negotiating with the insurgents.

The Taliban have threatened participants of the meeting with violence, saying that the United States should be considered an enemy, not a partner.

Afghan authorities on Wednesday arrested two people with eight handguns, three assault rifles and one rocket-propelled grenade.